


A Christmas Present (and Possibly a Future)

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: Alternate Universe, Christmas, Drama, M/M, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Romance, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-05-19
Updated: 1999-05-19
Packaged: 2018-11-10 12:00:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11126598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: AU PWP: After an absence in Canada, Ray eagerly awaits Fraser's return... And lets Fraser have his way with him.





	A Christmas Present (and Possibly a Future)

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

 

A Christmas Present (&Possibly a Future) 

Greetings! This is a first  
time posting by the Three Amigos. We have been lurking around for some  
time now, reading the archives, and finally we decided to join in. Unlike  
some of the contributors we have decided to use nicknames, Ironside,  
Buzz and Batman. Ironside & I have known each other for a long while  
now, getting on for 14 years. Buzz encountered us on the way to a Star  
Trek Con a couple of years ago, and we haven't stopped talking since.

This was written because Ironside wanted her very own PWP. A few words of explanation are appropriate here. This is set in what, in Trek parlance, is an alternate universe. I (Batman) was wondering what would, or would not, have happened if Fraser had not met Vecchio when he first arrived In Chicago. I doubt if I'll ever get around to writing the whole thing but this fragment is from towards the end of the story and stands up pretty well on it's own. The reason that I doubt I'll ever finish the rest of the story is that Buzz & Ironside have some good story ideas of their own! 

**Rated: R, PWP Contents are M/M encounter. You have been warned.**

Standard disclaimer applies. If no-one else wants to play with these guys, why shouldn't we? 

Please let us know if you want to read any more stories created by the Three Amigos........ 

#  A Christmas Present (& Possibly a Future)

It was 5 days before Christmas and Ray Vecchio was tired. It showed on  
his face, the dark shadows around his green eyes. It showed in the curve  
of his shoulders and the way his steps sounded flatly on the steps of  
the apartment block. The doorman held the door open for him and smiled  
sympathetically at him. He knew that the very thin man in the fashionable  
clothes was a police detective. He made it his business to know all about  
the people who lived in his building, or in the detectives case, were  
the friends of people who were going to be living in his building. The  
person in question who was going to be living there was also cop, a Mountie,  
Benton Fraser and his dog. The arrangements had been made by the Canadian  
Consulate but the apartment had been discovered and recommended by Detective  
Vecchio.

It had been Detective Vecchio and his family who had descended on the unsuspecting block supervisor, wresting from his weak grasp the keys, and had gone over every square inch of the apartment, scrubbing, cleaning and repainting until the apartment had been declared to be fit for the Mountie to occupy. The female representative from the Consulate (he still couldn't quite swallow his surprise at the thought that she was a police officer, and a senior one too!) had merely raised a well shaped eyebrow when she encountered the very vocal Vecchios in full cry and had wisely left them being marshalled in their activities by the redoubtable Mrs Vecchio, recognising in the mother of the Chicago detective an elemental force of overwhelmingly destructive capability. 

Vecchio nodded to the doorman, too exhausted to want to exchange even a few words with the man. All he wanted to do was check out the apartment for one last time, to ensure that everything was in order for Fraser to take possession of the bare rooms. He leaned against the wall as he waited for the elevator to arrive, thinking back over the few months and the changes in his life that knowing the Mountie had caused. The quiet Canadian had helped him nail Frankie Zuko and had, as a consequence, received some quite serious injuries. He closed his eyes, shuddering as he remembered the swollen face that Frannie had laughed at when he'd arrived at the Vecchio house to stay after being released from the hospital. Fraser had stiffened under his arm as he'd supported him up the stairs and had offered, in a raspy voice filled with self-loathing, to go back to his own apartment. Vecchio, all to aware of the injuries hidden by the lumberjack style clothing, had had no difficulty in urging the Mountie up to his own room, undressing the unresisting man and tucking him up into his own bed. Fraser had simply been too ill to anything other than obey Vecchio's instructions. Frannie's unkind nickname of Quasimodo and her laughter following them up the stairs had only served to make the injured man unwilling to face the rest of the Vecchio family despite the assurances of Ray, and of Mrs Vecchio, that he was a welcome and honoured guest. 

Fraser had stayed hidden in Ray's room for 12 days until the transfer for more medical treatment in Canada had come through. The time had allowed Ray to talk to Fraser, to learn more of the incredibly complicated man who had exiled himself to the Windy City in the vain attempt to locate his father's killer. Defeated by the activities of senior RCMP officers Fraser had still been trying when he'd encountered Vecchio for which Ray had given much thanks. To Ray Benton Fraser was simply the most handsome man he'd ever laid eyes on. Carefully concealing his initial reaction (sheer lust) Vecchio had struck up a tentative friendship with the Deputy Liaison Officer and had privately been mining information about the murder of Robert Fraser when Fraser's insights into human behaviour had broken open a case against Frankie Zuko which in turn had led to Fraser being injured by some of Zuko's men. 

Vecchio had repaid the debt in full, tracking down the man who had killed Robert Fraser and dragging out into the full glare of American media the woeful facts surrounding his death and the corruption in the Canadian Administration which had connived at it. Communication with Fraser during this time had been difficult. They did not dare to make them too personalised for fear that they be intercepted and used against Fraser but there were sufficient hints in the short factual letters to keep Vecchio's hopes and dreams alive. His memory still held undimmed the precious hours spent with Fraser cradled in his arms whispering words of love to calm the Mounties nightmares and drive the fears of failure from his drug hazed thoughts. 

Vecchio heaved a great sigh and unpeeled himself from the wall of the elevator. Fraser's new apartment was on the top floor of the block. It wasn't been the one that Vecchio had found, that had been a smaller, much more modest affair on the second floor. The new liaison officer, Inspector Thatcher, had up-rated the apartment to the spacious penthouse suite when she'd come, personally, to inspect the building. After rather briskly brushing aside Vecchios enquiries about how Fraser was supposed to afford the penthouse when he had barely been able to pay for the rat trap he'd been allocated on his arrival in Chicago Inspector Thatcher had finally, with some embarrassment, admitted that Fraser had not been given any of the housing allowances that he'd been entitled to and had been docked pay in an effort to freeze him out of the Mounties before he'd solved his father's murder. The entire cost of renting the penthouse (plus utilities) was going to be born by a grateful administration. Vecchio had grinned cynically at the discomforted woman. Like her he knew that the posting was punishment, not reward with the opportunity for advancement that the senior officers claimed it to be. Like her, he knew that the apartment was a gilded cage to trammel the Mountie in. Like her his feelings about Frasers posting back to Chicago were ambivalent. He wanted the Mountie back in Chicago because of the possibility that they might become lovers but he knew that Fraser had wished to be posted north, back home to the wilds where he had grown up. 

He fumbled with the key in the lock, sighed in exasperation and tried again. He'd picked the lock out himself and had supervised it's fitting, together with the three deadlocks on the inside of the door. Zuko had not been able to weasel out of the charges against him yet, and whilst Fraser's evidence was not crucial to the case it had been the turning point in the investigation which might mean that some of Zuko's friends might wish to discuss the matter with Fraser again. Vecchio had made this clear to the building supervisor and the security team in the building and he'd noticed a moderate pick-up in the levels of surveillance about the place. Of course Fraser would be sharing with the wolf, who was as good as any three security guards and, in addition, was personally motivated in keeping Fraser unharmed. Finally his fingers co-operated with his brain and he walked into the empty apartment. 

Immediately he felt himself grabbed, swung around and he found himself pressed flat against the wall be the door, a man expertly leaning against his back, holding him in place with seemingly no effort. "Hello Ray". 

The voice, low and even in his ear, caused his already accelerated pulse to jump for quite a different reason. "Fraser? Jeez!!" He tried to turn but the pressure against him held him in place. "Fraser?" 

"Yes Ray." It wasn't a question, just a confirmation of identity 

"Welcome back to Chicago!" There didn't seem to anything else to say. 

"Thank you Ray. It is good to be back." The weight on him lessened slightly and he heard the heavy door slam shut, kicked by Fraser because both Fraser's hands were occupied holding his wrists up against his shoulder blades. 

"You're early. I didn't expect you 'till tomorrow. I'd arrange to have the day off tomorrow. I was going to meet your plane. Thought I'd save you the walk." 

"And I thought I'd surprise you. Inspector Thatcher has been most complimentary about your family's attention to making this apartment habitable." 

Vecchio tried to shrug but being rammed tight against the wall the gesture was, at best, abortive. "It seemed the least we could do after the way Frannie..." His voice trailed away. He did not want to talk about Frannie. 

"How is Frannie?" 

But it seemed that he was going to have to. "About the same. She's still hitting the bottle. Ma's given her a month to stop, and threatened to throw her out if she doesn't. Frannie doesn't believe her." 

"But you do. I remember you talking about your father, while you were holding me. He seemed to be such a foolish man. To have so much and not seem to care about whether he lost you, his family, or not.. I remember you holding me so carefully while we were talking, as if you were frightened that you'd damage me if you held me too tightly." 

"I was scared I'd hurt you. I'd talked to the doctors and I'd seen beatings like that before." Vecchio tried to turn his head enough to see Fraser but the weight on his back increased. "I knew how much it hurt you." Vecchio kept the phrasing oblique so that Fraser could make up his own mind whether the beating or the nickname was being referred to, or both. 

"I'm all better now. All the bones are whole. All the bruises faded to normality. I have my strength back." Fraser's breath fanned across Vecchios cheek. Then because he was Fraser and so incurably honest said. "Some of my strength. I am woefully lacking in stamina." 

Vecchio wriggled ineffectively "Can't really say I'd noticed." 

"I've been looking forward to coming back to Chicago. I never thought that I'd ever do anything other than feel relief at leaving this city but I actually found myself looking forward to returning. I was looking forward to being with you again. Please tell me honestly Ray. When I was staying in your house.... you told me that you were attracted by me. That if you had the chance that you would like to be my lover. Is that still true?" 

Vecchio's heart gave a lurch "Yes." 

"And if the treatment in Canada hasn't been a total success?" 

Vecchio closed his eyes, remembering the classic features glimpsed across the smoky precinct squad room that had so instantly captured his attention and his imagination. He remembered a softly given promise, whispered into an ear in the dimness of the early morning, to always speak the truth to this man, even when a 'white lie' could spare his feelings. "I admit that I fell in lust with your face, but I fell in love with you, the man inside. The gentle person who'd spent himself so freely to help others. I fell in love with what's inside you, your spirit, your soul. I admit that it does matter to me what you look like but that's because I'm selfish enough to want the outward you to be as beautiful as the inward you. Do I still want a chance to be your lover? Yes please. On any terms you set. You define the limits and I'll stick to them." Vecchio held his breath, wondering at what could have gone wrong with the medical treatment in Canada. The doctors he'd spoken to there had been so positive of total success, unless the Administration had been vindictive enough to interfere because of what he'd found out about Robert Fraser's murder. An ache inside him grew. What if he'd been responsible for the despoiling of such loveliness? 

Fraser regarded his captive, noting the despair recorded so clearly in the droop of his head, the quiver in his voice, and heard again the utter sincerity of the promise. He smiled. "No matter what they are?" 

"Provided that it doesn't compromise my family or the job." 

Unseen Fraser nodded at the caveat. Some things had to be above compromise. "Understood. You found this apartment for me?" 

Vecchio stirred, wary at the sudden change of subject. "I couldn't let you go back to the other place. Not after they didn't help you." 

"Do not condemn them Ray. They were afraid." Fraser's voice was gentle. 

"So was I. I was sick to my stomach getting up the stairs to your apartment. I could hear Dief howling and I knew something was wrong. They sat and listened to him for at least 15, maybe 20 minutes, trying to get back into the apartment to you and they did nothing. You could have died! I couldn't let you go back there." Vecchio struggled to bring his voice back under control, knowing that Fraser could feel the shudders the memory caused in his body. "All I had to do was find a decent apartment block that would allow dogs. I didn't tell them that Dief is a wolf!" 

"I'll be sure to explain it to him. I was having a look around when you arrived." 

"What do you think of the place?" Vecchio forced himself to relax against the wall, banishing the images of Fraser laying in a pool of blood, his face an unrecognisable mask of bruises, cuts and swollen flesh, wishing that he could banish it from his dreams as easily. He concentrated on the man behind him, wanting to see the face he'd dreamed of seeing, hoping that the treatment had been more successful than Fraser seemed to be indicating. 

Fraser kissed the back of his neck gently causing Vecchio to stretch and arch much in the same way a cat would if stroked on the neck. "It has a number of very promising features. It faces south." another kiss landed. "So there will be sun in here all day." Another kiss. "There is a wide balcony so I can sleep outside when I want to." Another kiss. "They allow pets." An agile tongue licked up the side of Vecchio's neck to explore the back of his ear. "It is unfurnished so we can gather whatever furniture we want, not what other people think we should have." 

Vecchio, panting and distracted, did not miss the vital 'we' in the statement and almost wept with relief. His voice roughened by threatened tears he asked. "Speaking of pets, where is Dief?" 

"Quarantine. We will be able to collect him tomorrow." Fraser's breath was warm on his neck but cold where he'd moistened the skin. 

"So? What do you want to do tonight?" 

"I want to make love to you." 

Vecchio felt his knees give slightly in reaction to the dark seductiveness in the voice whispering to him. Fraser shifted his grip, supporting the extra weight easily. 

"I think you already are." Vecchio croaked out. 

"Just the beginning. There's more, so very much more. Will you let me show you?" 

Vecchio rested his head back on Fraser's shoulder in an unconscious gesture of total submission and total trust. "Anything." 

"I was hoping that you'd agree." 

"Before we ...... continue, I'll have to call home. Ma's expecting me and she worries." Vecchio's voice faltered as he thought about the situation he was in. He was being invited to stay by his future lover (for the first time!) and he was calling his mother! e groaned and shook his head. "I'm sorry." 

Fraser responded by nibbling his ear. "I admire and respect your mother, and I would never do anything which would upset her, at least, I would try not to. We will have to discuss us and how we will deal with your family, but later. Where is your cell phone?" 

"Coat pocket. The right one." 

Fraser shifted his grip, holding both Vecchio's wrists in his left hand and fished the cell phone out of the capacious coat pocket. "Still auto dial 1?" 

"What else? I'll ....tell...... her" 

"I will speak to her. A son should not have to speak lies to his mother 'Mrs Vecchio? Benton Fraser." There was a pause and Vecchio could hear the sound of his mothers voice but could not make out the words. "Yes I am quite well now, thank you kindly. I know that Ray is not home yet, he is here with me. I arrived back in Chicago today. I wanted to avoid any possible contact with the media, so I arranged to catch an earlier flight. Yes, well, thank you. If you would not mind, Mrs Vecchio, Ray and I have some things to sort out and the sooner we talk through them the better so if perhaps I could turn down your kind offer. Tomorrow night, certainly, I would be honoured to have dinner with you. Ray asked me to call you because he knows how concerned you become when he is late. I agree, he is a son that any mother would be proud of. Would you have any objection if I borrowed him for tonight? I promise I will take the greatest care of him and return him to you tomorrow. Yes a celebration of my return to Chicago. Thank you Mrs Vecchio, I will give him your message and I will look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Goodnight." 

He turned off the cell phone as deftly as he had turned it on. "Your mother asked me to tell you to take good care of me tonight, and to make sure that my first evening back in Chicago is a memorable one." 

"I don't believe you! You're the man you can't tell a lie without getting an attack of the guilts!!" 

"But Ray, I did not tell any lies. This evening we are going to spend in celebrating my return to Chicago, and I do intend to take very great care of you, and I am looking forward to seeing your mother again and doing justice to her excellent cooking, which I singly failed to do on my last visit." 

Vecchio replayed the conversation he'd heard in his head. "So that's how you avoid telling lies, you tell the truth!" 

"Yes. Now, is there anyone else you need to call?" 

"No Fraser." said Vecchio meekly. 

"Can I turn off this phone so that we won't be disturbed?" 

"Yes Fraser." 

"Good" He did so. "Ray, you did say that you would let me make love to you tonight?" 

"Yes?" 

"Just reminding you. Close your eyes." 

"What?" 

"Close them, and keep them closed. Oh yes, and don't move." 

"Don't move?" 

"That's right. I'm going to let go of your wrists but I want you to leave your hands right where they are until I tell you that you can move them." Fraser relaxed his hold slightly and smiled in triumph as Vecchio's arms stayed bent up his back in what he knew by now would be a quite uncomfortable position. Vecchio leaned against the wall, heart pounding, arms aching and waited for Fraser's next move. It took him by surprise. Something slipped over his head and settled against his eyes. 

"Hey?" 

The slight delay in unbending his arms gave Fraser the few seconds he needed to complete the task and then to recapture Vecchio's wrists again, this time not bent up behind his back but held now with palms flat against the wall his full weight against Vecchios back. "It's all right Ray. It's all right. It's just one of those little masks they give you on the planes so that you can block out the reading lights. It's all right." soothed Fraser. 

Vecchio slowly relaxed and Fraser was able to lessen his grip, although he kept full body contact with Ray, holding him pressed flat against the wall. 

"A blindfold? I didn't realise that you were into kinky sex?" 

"I don't know that I am? I've never tried kinky sex." Then, in a more reflective tone, "Perhaps it's something that we can explore?" 

"URGHHH?" said Vecchio 

"I'll take that to mean that it's something that we can talk about." 

"Talk? Yes...." Vecchio managed to swallow. "Why a blindfold?" 

"Because I don't want you distracted." 

"Distracted?" 

"I want you to concentrate on feeling. The touch of my hands; the way they feel on your body; the way your body feels when my hands touch you. I want you to let me make love to you. I want you to let me take pleasure in exploring your body, to allow me to start to learn those things which give you pleasure." 

Vecchio sucked in a deep breath. "You keep on talking like that and you won't need to touch me at all!" he warned. 

"Really? Words please you?" 

"Your voice saying them." 

"Hmmm. Will you let me? No distractions. Will you let yourself be loved tonight?" 

"By you. Only by you." 

Unseen Fraser nodded. He knew the scale of the leap of faith, the depth of trust that had been placed with him. This man, like himself, was a police officer. To surrender control to another was the ultimate gift of love, one he intended to take the fullest advantage of, and one he intended to give in return. 

"Only us. You and I." he affirmed. "I promise that I will not hurt you. I could never willing injure you, and if you find that you do not like, or are not comfortable with, anything that I do, you must tell me and I will cease immediately." 

Vecchio nodded, breathing deeply, uncertain that he could speak and hold his voice steady. 

"Now I'm going to stop holding your hands against the wall but I want you to leave them there." 

Vecchio nodded again and felt the firm muscles of Fraser's chest lift off his back, the solid thighs move away from his legs. He stayed leaning against the wall, grateful for it's support. 

"I would like you not to lean against the wall, but leave your hands where they are." 

A small chuckle escaped Vecchio as he obeyed the voice. His reward was two arms reaching around his ribs and the feel of hands undoing his overcoat, then his jacket. 

"Can you stand without the wall?" 

/Oh very observant/ Vecchio thought then had to consider the question before he decided. "Yes" 

"Then let your arms relax by your side." 

Vecchio wasn't quite quick enough to trap Fraser's arms and he shrugged. 

"Take two steps back, away from the wall." Fraser's voice sounded to one side and Vecchio automatically turned his face towards it. "Away from the wall." the voice chided and with a small grin playing on his lips Vecchio took two steps back. A light kiss was placed on the corner of his mouth then Fraser was gone again. Over the sound of his own racing heart Vecchio tried to listen for sounds of movement then he caught a whiff of scent and turned his head towards that direction. Another kiss skimmed his lips. 

"I'm beginning to understand." he said. 

"No distractions. Just let yourself be loved." 

"I'm all yours." 

The weight of his outdoor coat disappeared from his shoulders and then his jacket followed it into oblivion. 

"I'm going to take your gun Ray." Fraser warned him and Vecchio nodded his consent, thrilled that in the midst of such arrant seduction the Mountie, the Canadian policeman, had warned him, had obviously planned to warn him, had thought about how to do this. Gun and holster were removed and Vecchio twitched in reaction despite himself, then his tie was loosened and drawn through his collar. /How can someone taking off my tie be sexy?/ mused Vecchio. /Not someone; Fraser. Fraser taking off my tie is sexy. Fraser. Fraser is sexy./ A broad smile played across his face as he realised that if he could see Fraser now he'd be reaching out and grabbing him. A soft sound and another stray scent had him tilting his head again as Fraser approached from his left. 

Fingers toyed with the top button of his shirt and he lifted his chin obligingly, inhaling deeply, smelling Fraser. 

"Hmmm." said Fraser. 

"What? What!?" 

"Just a thought." 

"Am I going to enjoy it?" 

"I don't know." said Fraser honestly, pausing, still toying with the button, his fingertips making little forays up Vecchio's neck and down inside the collar. 

Vecchio licked his lips. "Only one way to find out?" he suggested. 

Fraser laughed softly, relieved that his lover (think about this, this wonderful man has consented to be your lover!) had started to join in the game of seduction. "You are becoming bold, my love." 

"My love. I like the sound of that." 

"Good." Gentle fingers unfastened the next button and then the next then paused as the cross on it's delicate golden chain came into view. "I'll stop whenever you decide that you want me to" repeated Fraser. 

"If I want you to stop I'll be sure to tell you. Right now I don't want you to." 

"Impatient?" 

"Becoming eager." Vecchio's hands moved towards the growing bulge in his trousers and were immediately caught. 

"No!" admonished Fraser. "You are not nearly eager enough yet!" 

"Then get on with it!" 

"All in good time." said Fraser sunnily and lifted a hand to his mouth. Each finger, each knuckle was kissed, licked and nibbled in turn, the palm sucked before the button holding the cuff was freed and the soft skin of the inside of the wrist likewise worshipped. Vecchio's heartbeat started to pick up and he shivered. 

"Are you concentrating?" 

"Oh yes!" 

The other hand was similarly served and Vecchio had great difficulty stopping his thoughts leaping ahead. /Think about now. Think about what he is doing now, right now, this minute. Not where those lips might travel. Only now!/ 

Fraser released both hands and tugged the shirt free of his trousers, finished unbuttoning it and drew the silk from shoulders and arms, kissing each inch of skin as it was revealed, alternating attention to each shoulder and arm in turn, sometimes from the front, sometimes the back, then Fraser licked Vecchio's right arm from elbow to shoulder. Vecchio sucked in a deep breath and shifted but then held still again, wondering what part of him would be greeted next. Fraser decided to remove Vecchio's vest, pulling it free, lifting it slowly upwards, greeting each rib and ridge of muscle in turn but avoiding giving any attention to his already hard nipples. Fraser blew gently across Vecchio's abdomen, admiring the tightening of his gut as his breath struck cold on saliva. 

Then Fraser knelt down and unfastened Vecchio's shoes, lifting each foot in turn. Breathing raggedly now Vecchio found that he was unable to trust his balance and reached out to steady himself on Fraser. His hand gripped bare shoulder and he gasped loudly. He knew that Fraser had been dressed when he'd first entered the apartment. He'd caught a glimpse of jacket and blue denim jeans when Fraser had first tackled him, and he remembered the feel of soft brushed cotton against his hands when Fraser had him pinned against the wall. /When had Fraser managed to shed his clothes? Had he shed all his clothes?/ 

"Oh Dear!" he breathed. That a possibly naked man was kneeling in front of him hit him straight in the gut, then he snorted with amusement. /What had he been thinking? That Fraser was going to stay dressed?/ 

"Ray?" Fraser checked. 

"I'm okay. I'm more than okay. I'm happy." 

"I have to take your other gun away." 

Vecchio's fingers tightened on Fraser's shoulder, feeling smooth skin over solid muscles and hard bone. "That's okay. I don't think I'm going to be needing it for a while." 

The weight of the gun left his leg, then his feet were lifted in turn and his socks were removed. Vecchio waited for the same treatment that his hands and fingers had received to be lavished on his feet. To his disappointment Fraser stood up, managing to evade Vecchio's hands which apparently reached out of their own accord to try to check out whether the Mountie really was entirely naked. 

"Tsk. Tsk." 

Vecchio grinned in delight. "No-one's tsk'd at me for years, not since my first math teacher." 

"Keep your hands to yourself Ray." Fraser warned him and waited. 

Finally Ray shrugged. "Okay, I'll keep my hands to myself, but only if you don't keep your hands to yourself." 

He had to wait for a while before Fraser said "I think that can be arranged." 

"In that case, I'll be a good boy." 

"I don't think so." Fraser stepped up to Vecchio and leaned his chest against bare back. Vecchio shuddered and leaned against him, the skin on his back reporting faithfully that Fraser was definitely not wearing a shirt or vest. He was a warm solid reality in an empty world. Vecchio shuddered again as bare arms slipped under his own and circled his ribcage to come to rest on his belt buckle, and stopped there. Vecchio's handed curled into fists as he fought the urge to reach back to the hips he could feel against his buttocks. 

Goaded, he said. "Fraser, if you stop now I will do you serious damage." 

"I don't want to do anything that will offend you." 

Vecchio moved his shoulders and arched his back into Fraser. "I'm really paying attention here. I'll try to learn all my lessons because I'm really going to enjoy proving that I've learnt them" 

"I do refresher courses." Fraser kissed the nape of Vecchio's neck. "I remember you kissing me like this. [kiss] When we were in your house [kiss] in your bed [kiss] and you held me in your arms [kiss] for hours [kiss] just talking to me [kiss] and keeping the nightmares away. [kiss] I remember how good it felt [kiss] to be held by two loving arms [kiss] and to hear a beautiful voice [kiss]. I think I learnt my [kiss] lesson well, [kiss] don't you?" 

Vecchio tried to control his rocketing pulse and rapid breathing. One part of him refused to calm down, continued throbbing, demanding attention. Vecchio patted at his hips then sighed and ran his hands up and down Fraser's fore-arms to where his hands were resting flat on his own now bare belly. 

"I missed that." he confessed and lifted his feet one at a time to kick free of his trousers and underpants. 

Fraser kissed his neck again. "Better luck next time." 

Vecchio inhaled deeply and writhed in Fraser's embrace, feeling the heat radiating from the body behind him, knowing now that Fraser was as naked as he was and finding that he was content. No, more than content, (he couldn't think of the right word), he just knew he was right were he was meant to be, waiting Fraser's pleasure and his own. 

They stood, quiet and still, for what seemed to be a very long time. They listened to each other breathing and the muted sounds of the city that filtered in through the triple-glazed doors which led out onto the balcony. Vecchio felt the warmth of Fraser against his back, buttocks and the backs of his legs, and the smooth hardness of the varnished floor beneath his feet and the way tiny breezes moved the hairs on his arms and legs. They stood together and were, trusting each other until Fraser licked his neck, causing him to moan and said "Time for your next lesson." and moved away. 

Ray listened and finally heard water running. /Water? What now?/ 

"Kneel down Ray." It wasn't so much a command as a statement and Vecchio obeyed him instantly, sitting back on his heels, his hands on this thighs. 

"Comfy?" 

"Not really. Parts of me are quite tense." 

"Tension is bad for you. I'll have to see what I can do to ease your tension." The words, and possible ways of relief, which flashed through Vecchio's mind, caused the tension to mount. He gasped and flinched as something was rubbed against his cheek. It felt like ... 

"Soap?" 

"Shaving soap." said Fraser pedantically lathering Vecchio's cheeks, chin and neck. He watched with some amusement and no sympathy at all as Vecchio's somewhat prominent Adams Apple bobbed up and down, then Ray asked. 

"Are you going to shave me?" 

"That is my intention, yes." 

"With a razor?" 

Fraser carried on lathering Vecchio's face, making the suds rich and creamy, working the bristles of the shaving brush against the underside of Vecchio's chin. 

"Yes, with a razor." 

"What sort of razor, Fraser?" 

There was silence. Fraser had finished his preparation and stepped back to admire the effect. 

"Fraser?" 

There was more silence. 

"Fraser?" 

"Better if you don't talk Ray, this razor is remarkably sharp." 

"Urgh!" said Ray intelligently, his eyes, behind the little mask, wide with fear. Then he felt the whisper of the blade up his cheek, sliding through the foam, slicing through his two day old stubble. The feel of the sharp steel against his skin was refreshing, almost soothing. He moved his head from side to side, tilting it up to allow Fraser access to the under side of his chin, knowing that as he did so, Fraser was standing behind him, leaning over him. 

Fraser took his time shaving Vecchio, re-lathering and re-shaving parts of his face when he considered the effect of the razor to be less than perfect. Finally he brought more water and wiped Vecchio's face and neck clean of the remains of the soap, allowing a thin stream of water to trickle down Vecchio's spine to disappear into the cleft at it's base. Vecchio wriggled, his lips compressed into a thin line. 

"What did you think of the shaving lesson Ray?" Fraser's voice sounded distant, muffled and Vecchio could hear the sound of running water. /Washing the razor/ he concluded and felt very please with himself. He raised his voice to reply. 

"It was very soothing. I think I'd have to practise lot before I dared try that on you." 

Fraser's voice sounded next to him. "Agreed. I would suggest that you didn't practise of yourself either. Your face would not be enhanced by razor cuts." Fraser ran his hand over a smooth cheek and chin and Vecchio kissed the clever fingers as they came into range. "Like silk. Of course there's a great deal to be said for stubble. It's application to certain parts of the anatomy can be most stimulating." Vecchio's imagination went, briefly, into overdrive, and the tension which had been eased by the shaving episode, returned to it's previous high levels. "But not tonight. Tonight I wanted silk." 

Vecchio breathed heavily through his nose, aware of beads of sweat gathering on his chest and back, the way his palms were wet were they rested on his thighs. Fraser's fingers continued to stray over his face, smoothing along his cheeks, searching out the hollows behind his ears, tracing the contours of his nose. 

"One of my more prominent features." he murmured. 

"I can think of one feature more prominent." 

Vecchio's mouth quirked into a smile under Fraser's fingers. "I've been paying attention." 

"Ah! that will do it every time. You've been cutting your hair shorter?" 

"You can tell?" 

"Of course. I did prefer it when it was longer. I had this fantasy about washing your hair." 

Vecchio nodded. "I'll grow it." he offered immediately then said "I have a lot of body hair?" 

"Yes." 

Vecchio shivered. Never in his entire life had he heard such a wealth of lust engendered into one word. "Wanna check out your new bathroom? You've got one of your own now. No sharing." 

"Except with you." 

"I did have that in mind." 

"You have been thinking about me?" 

"Am I breathing?" Vecchio kept getting reports from various parts of his body that Fraser was touching him there too. Whilst hands were playing with his head and face Vecchio was heading towards imagination overdrive again trying to identify just what was touching him where. "Yeah, I've been thinking about you." 

"Fantasies?" 

Vecchio shrugged, shifting uneasily and to Fraser's unending delight, blushed. "Some." the cop admitted. 

"What is your favourite?" 

Vecchio stilled under Fraser's hands. "That I wake up in a big double bed and I'm with you. I have my head on your chest and your arms are around me, holding me, keeping me safe; and I can hear your heartbeat and feel you breathing." 

"I like that one. You must have others?" 

"Oh lots of others. I couldn't be with you so I had to imagine you there. I didn't know if you were coming back." The admission was made quickly, revealing to Fraser the depth of commitment that his friend and now his lover, had made to him. 

"I am back. I'm right here." 

"Yeah." 

"So what other fantasies did you make up?" 

"I'd rather show you." Vecchio offered. 

"Oh. Well. In that case, why don't you stand up and we'll carry on with mine?" 

Vecchio rose to his feet with limber grace, eager for whatever his partner's imagination had thought up. Fraser took him by the hand and led him /Where?/ Vecchio thought as they walked. /Bedroom? Of course. Where else?/ 

"Lay down Ray." the voice commanded and Vecchio yielded to the downward tug, his questing hand finding the softness of Fraser's bedroll. 

"Back, front or side?" he asked mischievously. 

"Back. To begin with." 

Vecchio subsided onto the bedroll. "Hey, this is comfortable, like a very good mattress." 

"I'm glad that you're comfortable." Fraser picked up Vecchio's hand and began to massage it, bending fingers, kneading muscles, then began to work his way slowly up Vecchio's arm. 

"That feels wonderful." murmured Vecchio as Fraser began the same journey on the other side. "How did you learn this talent? No, Don't tell me. Let me guess. There was this book in your grandparents library." 

"Why, yes! There was...... However did you?" 

Vecchio chuckled, which proved an interesting spectacle for Fraser as parts of the Italian moved. "I bet they never thought you'd use your lessons like this?" 

"They must have indulged themselves at least once Ray. They did manage to produce my father." 

"Hmmm" said Vecchio, not really caring. 

Fraser moved again and Vecchio uttered a little yelp as his right foot was grasped. 

"Ticklish Ray?" 

"Yes. Very." 

"Next time." 

Soon Vecchio began to relax as his feet were massaged by expert and skilful fingers. "Another book?" 

"Reflexology. A fascinating subject." As Fraser's voice droned on Vecchio found that he didn't want to listen to what Fraser was saying, he just wanted to listen to the sound of Fraser's voice. It was wonderful. Melodic with such clarity. It strolled into his ears and soothed his senses, pure maple syrup to his soul. Rather like having his ears stroked with a velvet voice, a deep rich brown velvet. Vecchio stopped drifting when Fraser's clever hands reached mid thigh, then the tension started to build again. Fraser affected not to notice the effect he was causing and continued up each leg in turn, switching from side to side, ignoring completely the now urgent need and carrying on up to knead thin flesh stretched tight over bony hips, and paid attention instead to the flat belly between. 

"I think you missed a bit." Vecchio panted, sucking in air as Fraser investigated his navel with intent. 

"I don't think so." The clever hands played onwards and upwards over a taut ribcage, soothing muscles, playing with the abundant chest hair, finding and teasing nipples into frantic hardness. Vecchio began writhing slowly, his long fingers flexing and bunching as he fought against the urge to pleasure himself. 

"Turn over" The command hissed in his ear. 

"What?" Vecchio's voice wobbled into the soprano range. "Are you joking?" 

"No." 

"Benny, I may be wearing a blindfold but I know that I've got the biggest hard-on that I've had in years, and you want me to lie on it?" 

"Yes." 

"Oh. Oh in that case I'm going to hold you responsible for anything that happens." 

"I knew you'd be able to work it out" Fraser assured him. 

Muttering and mumbling Vecchio squirmed and rolled cautiously over onto his belly. He whimpered as his weight settled on the bedroll and he arched his back, raising his buttocks in the air to lessen the pressure. Face down he gasped and bucked as Fraser knelt astride his head and began a long, slow procession down his neck to his back and then his waist, forcing a more intimate contact with every long outward stroke. He groaned as he tried not to grind himself into the down, the soft cotton inflaming already hyper-sensitive flesh. He was torn between the sensations of a supremely good back massage, which found every kinked muscle and unknotted it, and the fast approaching need for completion. 

He moaned continuously now as he actively sort contact with the material of the bed-roll, muscles in his legs and feet twitching unnoticed. Then Fraser moved, kneeling astride Vecchio's back, his hands kneading the sparse flesh of Vecchio's buttocks, forcing him into a slow, steady rhythm just when his own needs indicated the need for faster and more urgent strokes. 

He panted and gasped, driven now but controlled by the man astride him, his skin wet with sweat and flushed with arousal. How long it continued he had no idea; his whole universe was constricted down to the feel of hands alternately pressing down and holding his hips still, and the building pressure between his legs. 

From very far away he heard a voice patiently saying his name. 

"Yeah?" 

"Roll over." the voice suggested and he groaned as he squirmed about again, big strong hands helping him move his hips. He lay face up, Fraser now kneeling astride his chest. 

"Ray?" 

"What?" 

"Final exam." and Fraser swallowed him. 

Vecchio orgasmed immediately, screaming his delight, clawing at Fraser's thighs as the Mountie rode his bucking body, sucking the life juice from him. 

When Vecchio finally subsided and lay still Fraser climbed stiffly off his once and future lover and grinned down at the long limbed, hairy, utterly adorable body sprawled in boneless exhaustion across the bedroll. His eyes travelled up and down, reviewing the hair curled, or laying flat plastered down with perspiration, where sensitive skin showed evidence of friction, where a hickey had developed on the long neck just below an ear. 

He fingered his own arousal lightly, knowing that it would take little to make him come. It was a pity that Ray couldn't share this with him too but the total relaxation he read in the body laying beside him told him that Ray would be asleep for hours, and he couldn't wait that long. His fingers speeded up and he stroked himself faster, then slowed down as one of his own fantasies replayed for him inside his mind's eye. True it wouldn't be quite the same, but close, very close. 

He removed the mask from Ray's face, tutting absently as he noticed that the elastic had made indentations into the skin. He'd, no, they'd have to think of some other blindfold, one that didn't cause marks. He rolled Ray gently over onto his front, and placed a pillow under his hips, raising his buttocks slightly. He positioned himself carefully, hissing with delight as the flesh of Ray's cheeks gave haven to his need. He lay quiet, savouring the feel of boney wholeness beneath him, the way Ray's hair tickled him in unexpected ways and places, the scent of his love. Unable to contain himself he began to undulate his hips, rubbing gently flesh against flesh. Not seeking entry. Not yet, That delight would come later with Ray's full consent and active participation. He thrust once, twice and came, jetting his seed across his sleeping lovers form. 

A very long while later Vecchio shifted slightly, mumbled an incoherent protest and tried to find a soft spot in his pillow. It finally occurred to his sleep clouded mind that his pillow was warm and made of flesh. He blinked sleepy eyes open and then smiled lazily at Fraser, drinking in the sight of blue eyes smiling THAT smile just for him. 

"Good morning." he said politely. 

"Yes it is." Fraser looked at the watch which was laying face-up beside the lighted candle. "Just. I hope that you enjoyed your lesson." 

"Very much so. If I'd had lessons like this in school I'd have been a very much more attentive student. But I don't think they'd be anything like as good without you as the teacher." Vecchio's voice ripples with humour and he rubbed his cheek against Fraser's bare and hairless chest. "Thank you." 

Fraser's arms tightened in a powerful hug. "I'm sorry that I couldn't manage the big double bed." 

Vecchio pressed his lips to Fraser's chest, kissing him, then licking him, tasting him and making him squirm just a little. "Ticklish eh?? You managed the essentials. I'm with you, your arms are around me, holding me, keeping me safe. I can hear your heartbeat. I can feel you breathing. Strange, I never thought about tasting you, or what you'd smell like." 

"How do I smell?" 

"Like you. I mean you don't smell like anything, anyone else. It's you." 

"I know what you mean." 

Vecchio snuggled closer, marvelling at the way being held by Fraser seemed so right, so natural. 

"I never imagined that you were so furry." 

"Furry?" Vecchio twisted to look at Fraser, astonishment written large on his expressive features. "Furry?" 

"Yes." Fraser smiled lazily and playfully pulled at the hair on Vecchio's fore-arm where it lay across his own smooth chest. "Furry. Like having my very own teddy bear. I don't remember ever having a teddy bear." 

Vecchio felt tears pricking at his eyes. "Anytime you want to take this teddy bear to bed, or anywhere else, you just tell me. Okay?" 

Fraser looked at him sadly. "I know that this will not be easy for you. Your family, your reli--" 

"Shh." Vecchio reached up and placed his hand over Fraser's mouth, stopping his words. "You asked, I said yes please. If I didn't want to be right where I am then I'd have said no. But I didn't. I'll figure out how to handle things with my family; the other, well Father Behan knows but he isn't going to say anything, the confessional you know. He ain't exactly happy but he knows I don't go with whores or run the clubs which is a lot more than can be said of some of his straight parishioners, and some of them are married too!" Vecchio smiled and moved his hand. "Hey did you shave?" 

"No." 

"You're smooth, no stubble at all. Pity." he said remembering one sentence from the shaving episode. 

"I can grow stubble." offered Fraser moving his face against Vecchios hand. 

"How long does that take?" 

"Several weeks." 

Vecchio giggled. "Several weeks? Several weeks!" 

Fraser hugged him and rolled him over, pressing him down into the bedroll. Looking down at him Fraser said with ominous quietness. "You think that's funny?" 

Vecchio looked up at him, eyes dancing with delight. "Yes. I do. Care to make something of it?" he challenged. 

Fraser blinked, feeling a movement and knowing exactly where Vecchio's hands were. "Yes." he said and kissed Vecchio. 

Fins 

* * *

  



End file.
